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Home > All site sections > HR essentials > Law at work > Legal developments > Analysis and opinion

HR can learn from backing singers

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Lou Burrows

3 Aug 2009 | 11:23

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Did any of you catch the programme on the radio the other week about backing singers? It was truly fascinating. I won’t do it justice, but the headlines were that backing vocalists are not just a pleasant backdrop to the star’s voice. They play a really strategic role in the structure of the song.

The example the presenter used was “Leaving on the Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight and The Pips. It explored what exactly made this hit from 1973 the best rhythm and blues performance and made it go on to win the Grammy Hall of Fame award. Well, apart from a damn fine story and tune, it was the power of the backing singers. I had never (until now) understood the powerful role of the backing singer in creating a hit record.

During the programme, I came to understand the various techniques used by backing singers and how it is the singing from The Pips (not Gladys herself) that delivers the power. Sometimes The Pips simply repeat her words. Sometimes they chime in with supportive messages. At some points, they hum. But when the power builds, they come in with their own lyrics that complement the song but are in no way simple echoes or humming. They take on their own powerful personality.

It struck me that we HR people are rather like the backing vocalists. Sure, we can just hum along and repeat the words of the leader – that’s handy. We can sometimes come in with an interesting harmony – that gives some depth. But we can do more than that and we should do. We need to find our own messages that support and complement – and challenge where necessary.

The programme inspired me to think - am I humming along here? Am I doing what most backing singers do? Or am I going to get my own lyrics out here and be one of The Pips...

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